KQED's live call-in program presents wide-ranging discussions of local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.
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Recently on Forum:

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman joins us in the studio. He's just back from visiting Yemen, Syria and Turkey. We'll talk to the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist about his thoughts on the turmoil in Syria, U.S. jobs and NSA surveillance, among other topics. Friedman is in San Francisco to host "The Next New World," a New York Times forum on technology and the global economy.

Each year, charities such as Florida-based Kids Wish Network raise millions of dollars. But according to a joint investigation by The Center for Investigative Reporting, the Tampa Bay Times and CNN, Kids Wish Network gave less than three cents on the dollar to the cause. The investigation identifies the nation's 50 worst charities, all of which devoted less than 4 percent of donations to direct cash aid. We discuss the investigation, what should be done to crack down on bad charities, and how to make good decisions about where to send your charitable dollars.

It's Forum's annual summer book show. We'd like to hear your recommendations for a good book to throw in a beach bag, prop next to your fishing pole, or relax with in the shade of a tree. Whether your idea of a great summer read is "Gone Girl" or "War and Peace," call or write with your picks.

In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the wartime incarceration of Japanese-Americans in what he called "concentration camps." A few Japanese Americans defied that order. One of them, Gordon Hirabayashi, broke curfew and refused to go to camp. He became the face of one of the defining Supreme Court cases of that period, Hirabayashi v. United States. Approaching the 70th anniversary of the case, we talk with Gordon's nephew Lane Hirabayashi about his uncle's life and legacy.

After the first day of the G-8 summit meeting in Northern Ireland, topics like tax evasion, transparency and a U.S.-European Union bilateral trade agreement seemed largely overshadowed by talks of the Syrian conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin's dismissal of President Obama's call to support Syrian rebels has created a rift between Russia and the seven other members of the summit.

In Humboldt County, marijuana supports everything from fire departments to schools. Some residents welcome the prospect of legalization. Others want to stick with the inflated profits of the black market. In 2010, journalist Emily Brady decided she would move to Humboldt and live among pot growers. She joins us to talk about her new book, "Humboldt: Life on America's Marijuana Frontier."

Within the next few weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to release several major decisions on a range of hot-button issues including same-sex marriage and the use of race in undergraduate admissions. New Yorker staff writer Jeffrey Toobin joins us to discuss the big cases facing the court, and his new book "The Oath: The Obama White House and The Supreme Court."




